What's the Name of That Book??? discussion

Hi! I’m looking for a book that I read back on the 90s. I don’t remember the whole plot but I remember that the main character was a boy that went to an amusement park with his friend and each car in the ride had teeth (as in a scary face on it). As soon as they were going through a tunnel he purposely pushed his friend off and when the cars arrived at the end, all the people there had horrified looks because the teeth on the car had parts of the dead boy. I remember specifically that he gave his philosophy on where to sit on a roller coaster, saying that you wanted the front because you had the thrill of experiencing everything on the ride first, and the back because everyone else’s screams and reactions built up the anticipation. He said that if you go in the middle “you’re just going along for the ride.” I believe that is the exact phrase. After he killed his friend, he went over to the haunted mansion and started a fire in there and many of the park guests died. I don’t remember much more of the book - I sort of feel that the amusement park stuff happened at the beginning to tell us when this now older man had first explored his dark side. Can anyone help me find the title? Thanks!

Bettina, is this book for teens or adults?

Both - same vein as a Stephen king

No, I don’t recall the cover 🥲

A book by Peg Kehret? https://www.librarything.com/author/k...

Peg Kehret for bookel's Goodreads trackable link.

Not for fear of the night - thank you for the suggestion, though!

Bump

Solved! Someone on Reddit gave me the answer

Hideaway by Dean Koontz

Hideaway for the link